Court hearings begin in lawsuit to ban Trump from Colorado ballots

Judge Sarah Wallace on Monday began hearing arguments about whether former President Donald Trump’s name should be banned from the state’s 2024 primary election ballots. The lawsuit, brought by the Washington-based advocacy group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, argues that Trump should be excluded based on a clause of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The clause bans people engaged in an insurrection or rebellion from holding government offices without the approval of two-thirds of Congress. The organization’s lawyers argued Monday that Trump “incited a violent mob” during the Jan. 6 Capitol riots. A lawyer for Trump denied that Trump incited supporters to violence and dismissed the plaintiff’s legal theory.

Do the Capitol riots qualify as an insurrection? The judge is seeking to determine that, among other things. Wallace has already refused Trump’s requests to dismiss the lawsuit or move it to federal court. Voters in Minnesota are also seeking to keep Trump off their state’s primary ballots. Meanwhile, election officials in other states, including New Hampshire and Georgia, will not block Trump from appearing on the ballot.

Dig deeper: Read Daniel Darling’s column in WORLD Opinions about former Vice President Mike Pence’s departure from the 2024 presidential election race.